Hawaii wildfires kill 53: How did the flames scorching Maui start?

Deadly wildfires that ravaged the Hawaiian island of Maui this week have claimed at least 53 lives so far, officials said Thursday (10 August). This figure is likely to rise above 60, making it the worst disaster since Hawaii became a state in 1959, USA Today reported citing Governor Josh Green.

“What we saw was likely the largest natural disaster in Hawaii’s state history,” Green said at a news conference, as per CNN. “All of us will have a loved one here on Maui that we know of, that lost a house, that lost a friend.”

John Pelletier, the Maui police chief, said at a press conference Thursday evening, “We don’t know how many people we have dead. When this is all said and done, we just don’t know,” reported The Guardian.

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The devastation is already being considered the second deadliest in the United States after the 2018 California Camp fire that killed 85 people.

What happened in Hawaii? How did the catastrophic wildfires start? We explain.

‘Looks like a war zone’

It all began on Tuesday as three blazes broke out on Maui and by night the fire rapidly spread to Lahaina, situated on the west coast of the island. The next day, the flames engulfed Kula, an inland Upcountry section of the island.

According to the US Coast Guard, its crews rescued 17 people who had jumped into the Lahaina harbour to escape the blaze and 40 others from the shore.

At least 30 people were injured, including from burns and smoke inhalation. Thousands have been displaced and several remain missing, as per CNN. The wildfires have turned neighbourhoods into barren wastelands and charred over a thousand structures in Maui, reported The Guardian.

Hawaii’s governor Green told CNN early Thursday that an estimated “upwards of 1,700 buildings” were destroyed.

The oldest house on Maui built in the 1830s, Baldwin Home, was among the scorched buildings, a museum official said, as per The Guardian.

Officials said on Thursday that fires around Lahaina, a tourist spot, were 80 per cent contained. However, the historic seaside town, which was once the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii, has been mostly reduced to ash.

The blaze has also charred a 150-year-old tree, said to be the largest banyan in the US, that stands along Lahaina town’s historic Front Street.

“Lahaina Town and whole neighborhoods went up in flames and is unrecognisable … it looks more like a war zone,” Dean Rickard, co-coach of the Lahainaluna high school football team, told the Star-Advertiser.

“This fire was devastating and way worst than the 2018 fire. I had to evacuate my home and not sure if it’s still standing”.

The Pulehu fire torching an area near Kīhei, was 70 per cent contained as of Thursday morning, as per Maui County officials. However, none of the fires scorching Maui were 100 per cent contained till then, reported CNN. 

How did the fires start?

Most of Hawaii was under a red flag warning for fire risk when blazes erupted this week, as per CBS News. However, the exact cause of the wildfires is yet not known.

“It’s very strange to hear about severe wildfires in Hawaii – a wet, tropical island – but strange events are becoming more common with climate change,” Jennifer Marlon, a research scientist and lecturer at the Yale School of the Environment, told CNN.

ALSO READ: Hawaii wildfire: Why the wildfires in Maui are so devastating

The blazes, fuelled by strong winds and dry conditions, jumped from parched brush covering Maui to homes and businesses, leaving a trail of destroyed neighbourhoods.

As per the US Drought Monitor released Thursday, drought conditions worsened in Hawaii over the past week, contributing to the fire spread, reported CNN.

Around 263,948 residents of Hawaii are dwelling in drought areas. Also, parts several parts of Maui are hit by moderate and severe drought conditions, including some around Lahaina, USA Today reported citing US Drought Monitor.

“A drought dries out vegetation, adding power to a wildfire”, AccuWeather senior meteorologist Heather Zehr told USA Today. Hot temperatures dry out vegetation, making them more prone to fires.

Moreover, US National Weather Service (NWS) said that Hurricane Dora – a Category 4 storm passing across the Pacific Ocean hundreds of kilometres south of the Hawaiian islands – was partly responsible for wind gusts above 60mph (96km/h) on Tuesday night, when the wildfire broke out, reported The Guardian.

“We don’t know what actually ignited the fires, but we were made aware in advance by the National Weather Service that we were in a red flag situation — so that’s dry conditions for a long time, so the fuel, the trees and everything, was dry,” Major General Kenneth Hara, commander general of the Hawaii Army National Guard, said at a briefing Wednesday, as per CBS News.

Along with low humidity and high winds, this “set the conditions for the wildfires”, he added.

Experts also partly blame human activities on the island for the destruction. Around a quarter of Hawaii’s total land area is now covered by non-native species planted by plantations, ranchers and others unaware of Hawaii’s native ecosystems, noted USA Today. The grass on the island is dry and prone to fires.

“There is no doubt that fire-prone grasses have invaded drier Hawaiian ecosystems and brought larger, more intense fires,” Peter Vitousek, a professor of earth sciences at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, told USA Today.

With inputs from agencies